Should newbie include work hours in jewelry price?

[Patstone]

Most of the stuff on our stall is over £25 so its not mega cheap. but I still feel that we are learning, and I know that mine in particular arent perfect, not for the want of trying but saying that I have sold stuff that wasnt perfect and the buyer has been delighted with it. Peters pricing worked out if I understood him correctly, to be the price of the silver, labour and other overheads x 1.2 as a wholesale price and x 2 on the top for retail. So if you had silver worth say £5 and overheads, which in our case is only the rental of the stall and card machine, just for arguments sake we will say another £5, labour say another £6 an hour assuming you make it in an hour, item so far is £16 x 1.2 = £19.20 = £38.40 which as I said before I think is too much and it is bound to cost more as you (or at least I) wouldnt be able to make it in an hour.

[Exsecratio]

money in their pockets unless it's something they really need

Very much so, in the industry I'm in pricing is the hardest consideration on any job.

New customers tend to fall into several categories for non essential retail items,

Don't like it, (no sale here, they simply don't like your stuff)
Like it but can't afford it & wouldn't buy it, (window shoppers mainly)
Like it but wouldn't actually buy it, (holds their interest for a few minutes to maybe hours)
Like it but would buy if it was cheaper, (probably can't really afford to spend that much on something they don't need and will be telling you next week they found the same cheaper if they do buy)
Like it and will convince themselves to buy it but begrudge the actual price, (whole can of problems, if so much as one reflection isn't perfect down to sub micron level they will be on the phone complaining to balance the fact they overspent)
Love it and don't care about the price. (they are probably coming back next week with a pile more money to buy from you)
Buying because it's YOU they are buying from (The Holy Grail of customers!!)

There are a few sub categories but pretty much most buyers fall into the above.

Of course this only applies to non-essentials, (luxuries) it's human nature to try and save money on what we "must" buy but to ignore the same considerations when it's items we "want" to buy.

I'm as guilty of confusing the two as anybody I "needed" a Nissan GTR.....I didn't, but I convinced myself I did in part to justify the cost.

It seems to be the way if the first question you get asked is "how much is it" then you should prepare for the sale to take some work.

Just my humble thoughts on it really.

best wishes

Dave

[caroleallen]

That's why selling online is so great, cos you don't know who's looking at your work until they actually buy it. You don't have to sit around for hours while people paw your work and mess up your display.

[Exsecratio]

Most of the stuff on our stall is over £25 so its not mega cheap

Rightly so, all of you Ladies & Gents have a skill, if a Plumber want's to charge me £60 an hour for doing a job the average person can learn then how much is the time of a skilled craftsperson worth in comparison?

Anybody who puts their mind to it can be a Plumber (no offence to plumbers) but not all of us (non jeweller types) could hope to have the skill sets most people here have.

best wishes

Dave

[Keia]

There's also the two very valid points that have already been mentioned in this thread:
If you are asked to re-make an item at the current price you have it on for, would your heart sink at the prospect or would you skip off happily to your bench?
That's how to gauge if you're undercharging.
And secondly, as Peter quite rightly pointed out, you don't want to be creating a hole in the market for everyone else.

I've since re-done all my prices (using Peters formula) but I don't feel bad for it anymore because I made them, I sat for hours labouring away, I buy my tools, I pay my tax and damned right I will not give my stuff away.
You make your jewellery Pat and it's amazing what you do - if anyone could just do it then everyone would just be doing it, right?
You have skills that you should be appreciated a bit more for - your not running a charity Pat, you're trying to make a living. If you get any snidey customers that moan about your prices, show them your hallmarks and your portfolio of your *handcrafted* jewellery. Maybe, a little step-by-step poster on how things were made so they can visulise all the work you put into every piece.
Your jewellery is very beautiful Pat and you should have the confidence to ask a wee bit more All the best xx

[Summer]

Very interesting read, I usually flap at my prices, but do believe I deserve better than pennies, but i'm still learning so worried as I don't want to over charge.
You are welcome to have a look at my site and pass judgement lol (I know i need to get my own domain and will).
Could do with a thread for passing on constructive comments :-)
Would help if i put the url in, Hmm must be time for bed.

http://jacquelineojewelry.weebly.com

[Patstone]

Well to make you feel better, everyone is still learning. There are a few on this website who learned the hard way, spending years of their young lives polishing and learning, they are better equipped than me to criticise or praise as I have only been making myself for four years. I have found out the hard way that the "finish" is very important. If you take photo's of everything you make, then zoom in, urgh it sometimes leaves a lot to be desired and in a couple of years you can look back and see how you have improved. I shudder at some of the early things I made, just to think I made it was good enough then, but now I ask myself If I would buy it and pay that price. One thing you are right about is the website, it doesn't do you justice, the pics are too small for starters. I know you can make them bigger but at a glance, and people tend to scan quickly. I have had my website for quite a few years now, and not done any active advertising apart from handing out business cards by the thousand and so far not sold a thing from the website, so don't expect it to make huge difference to sales. I hope this is constructive criticism, try going to a few local craft shows, test the water. Just don't get disheartened, what one person hates, another loves.

[caroleallen]

I like some of your designs Jacqueline, particularly the wave pendant. The main thing that I would change on your website is to take out the apostrophes in "pendant's". Some really pedantic people (like me) will be put off by that!

[Myosotis]

Are you UK based Jacqueline? Only saying because you're using the American spelling of "jewelry" rather than jewellery

[ps_bond]

I've been *far* too quiet on this thread recently

Something of relevance from the recent Winter Jewels exhibition on cost of selling:

Cost of cabinet + furniture + lighting + lock (basically a one-off, so can be written off against multiple exhibitions).
Cost of business cards.
Cost of travel to and from venue - in this case, setup, teardown and 3 days (minimum) stewarding.
Cost of food, tea, coffee while at venue (OK, not everyone ate there, but).
Cost of time for 3 days stewarding - 7.5 hours per day.

In order to break even on exhibiting, the level of sales needed cover that, the wholesale cost of the items sold and the commission to the venue. If you assume a 100% retail markup and a 25% commission (makes the numbers easy), you have to have 4* the total above to cover your costs.

Of course, that doesn't factor in marketing, awareness and everything else that arises from the exhibition.